Comments from the Devs

[Enygma55]

Well in the current version, you can't swap gear while engaged so if you wanna carry around a gear set for WS and for regular melee, you'll have to disengage at every action (taking 1-2 sec to engage/disengage) and that is a major downside. This will probably carry over into 2.0 also and with mages required to engage to cast spells also, no one has an advantage mid battle to gear swap.

I have no qualms about job change or gear swapping outside of battle as that's just being smart and adaptive to the situation.

[Niiro]

Mages would still have the freedom, you're not auto attacking between spells.

Also I wasn't aware mages would have to take their weapons out to cast again.

[TacoTaru]

They will have to draw their weapons, but like you said it's not going to change the fact that we have nothing to do between spells unless they give us a ranged AA. Unless they block out gear swapping when you have enmity, a faster system is only going to encourage gear swapping for mages in my opinion.

[Lucavi]

Modern mages in other games certainly do more than cast spells, especially when those spells cost resources.

[Elcura]

They have to in 2.0, since it seems you can't cast in passive mode anymore.

I mean mages will essentially have more freedom to gear swap under those conditions, but generally it's rarely going to be worth all the extra effort.

[Enygma55]

If people wanna take 2 sec to disengage > swap gear for a 5% boost in dmg be my guest. That 1000 dmg spell turned into 1050 dmg and to repeat that for every spell, enjoy micro managing that in every fight.

I'll stick to my 1 set of gear and avoid gear swapping headache in general. (as I do now)

[TacoTaru]

I certainly hope it doesn't take two seconds to engage/disengage in 2.0 as that wouldn't be any improvement over what we have now. If they don't want people swapping gear, I'll embrace it entirely and they should outright block it by using enmity instead of just being engaged. At the same time though if being engaged is the only hindrance to swapping gear and I can improve my performance by simply pressing square on my PS3 controller and hitting a macro, then it isn't going to stop me from swapping because that isn't really an inconvenience.

@Lucavi Modern mages might, but SE hasn't given me any reason to believe it's going to change from what it is now. I'd love to have more to do in between spells, but I haven't been given a reason to believe that will be the case yet.

[Elcura]

You're forgetting that if only mages can gear swap realistically, it makes them generally stronger than melee which creates an imbalance (which I'm sure wouldn't be accounted for). Better all or none, I dunno why you think only mages being able to gear swap would be a good thing, because gear swapping is terrible.

[Niiro]

Blocking gear swapping entirely during fights would be a bad thing.

Enter a fight and find 2/3s of your spells are getting resisted? Too bad, no coral rings for you, better luck next time.

[TacoTaru]

Better all or none, I dunno why you think only mages being able to gear swap would be a good thing, because gear swapping is terrible.

I don't think it's a good thing if only mages can do it. I'm saying if it's an option, I'm going to use it because pressing square and then a macro isn't a bother to me.

[Waraji]

I don't particularly side with the absurd idea that we should be able to gear swap during battle, that was XI, and as much as I enjoyed it, I see the immense drawbacks that can have on the player and general game experience. Seems the people arguing against "gear swap" only have this concept in mind.

My qualm is with multiple content, not one fight, or phases of a fight. If I'm doing Raid A on my WAR, I expect from experience through that dungeon that I will be tanking, boom Gear Set A. Then we go do Raid B on my WAR, I expect from experience through that dungeon that I will be DD'ing, boom Gear Set B.

My argument is that I should be able to have as many slots that I need per Job for such instances. I don't think anyone seriously backing up having more than the alleged suggested amount of gear swap slots, is under the mindset of gear swapping during combat.

If you don't see the benefit to this type of system then you've clearly not been playing the same SE games everyone has. Huge difining difference here is the fact that each character is open to all classes/jobs, while in all other mainstream MMO's each character is nearsightedly tied to one class.

[Elcura]

Blocking gear swapping entirely during fights would be a bad thing.

Enter a fight and find 2/3s of your spells are getting resisted? Too bad, no coral rings for you, better luck next time.

I would imagine a fight where 2/3s of your spells are getting resisted that +30 macc wasn't going to make you perform that much better. I see your point, but ultimately as long as fights are designed better and jobs have a bit more utility and synergy with eachother (in your situation, setting up a limit break combo that lowers meva/eva would be the preferred solution to a messy gear swap, provided limit breaks have that utility).

Also, for melee that situation is far more cumbersome (and I know, because I've done it before) than it ever would be for mages.

I don't particularly side with the absurd idea that we should be able to gear swap during battle, that was XI, and as much as I enjoyed it, I see the immense drawbacks that can have on the player and general game experience. Seems the people arguing against "gear swap" only have this concept in mind.

My qualm is with multiple content, not one fight, or phases of a fight. If I'm doing Raid A on my WAR, I expect from experience through that dungeon that I will be tanking, boom Gear Set A. Then we go do Raid B on my WAR, I expect from experience through that dungeon that I will be DD'ing, boom Gear Set B.

My argument is that I should be able to have as many slots that I need per Job for such instances. I don't think anyone seriously backing up having more than the alleged suggested amount of gear swap slots, is under the mindset of gear swapping during combat.

If you don't see the benefit to this type of system then you've clearly not been playing the same SE games everyone has. Huge difining difference here is the fact that each character is open to all classes/jobs, while in all other mainstream MMO's each character is nearsightedly tied to one class.

This kind of gear swapping I'm totally not against. When you gear for actual roles in battle rather than specific spells, abilities and weapon skills then gear swapping serves a purpose that isn't just for people with ADD who love to min-max everything (nothing against those players, but generally that shit doesn't make for compelling game play or dynamic fights).

Not to mention that loot gets even more complicated, with people lotting on equipment not because they need it for a role in a job, but because they want to be 1% more effective than they were before (and this naturally leads to people getting equipment they barely need over people who do because of marginal increases in performance).

[miokomioko]

Blocking gear swapping entirely during fights would be a bad thing.

Enter a fight and find 2/3s of your spells are getting resisted? Too bad, no coral rings for you, better luck next time.

Sounds like what it should be to me.

(Food/Medicine can still be used on the fly.)

[solracht]

Blocking gear swapping entirely during fights would be a bad thing.

Enter a fight and find 2/3s of your spells are getting resisted? Too bad, no coral rings for you, better luck next time.

Yes, better luck next time. Maybe next time actually figure out how much MACC you need for that encounter. Going unprepared into any fight always puts you in a disadvantage, I don't see why this part should be different.

Either allow gear swaps, or don't. If gear swaps aren't supposed to happen then they should put mechanisms in place to stop them from ever happening (like an "in-combat" concept, or not letting you go to passive mode until all engaged mobs are dead). If gear swaps are intended to happen, then build a system that supports them.

What we have currently just feels half-assed, clunky and cumbersome and it needs to be left behind, especially if only half of the classes can benefit from it.

[Spider-Dan]

It's a terrible side effect and oversight of XI's mechanic and everyone knows it. Being used to it doesn't make it good.

It has nothing to do with "being used to it."

It has everything to do with "I have to participate in [event x] for some gear that other people want, and the only gear that drops for my job is clearly inferior to what I have (because every piece of gear is either "better" or "worse"), therefore this event is a complete waste of time for me."

By allowing gearswapping, you create more sidegrade gear, which creates more incentive to participate in an event and get something of (sidegrade) value, instead of something of NO value.

Now, if you're going the WoW route, where all the gear in the game is obsoleted en masse every [x] months, then I can understand the objection to spending time on sidegrade gear. But if not, it's a better way to keep things interesting.

Take off the goggles and understand that strategizing gear for an entire battle has more depth and variation to it than carrying around a gear-set for each ability that does nothing but push a single attribute as far as you can get it.

...except that there virtually no abilities or situations that require exactly one attribute.

You're casting a spell. Do you want Fast Cast? Haste? MAB? INT? MACC? MND? Cure Potency? Cure Speed?

It is exactly the same kind of decision-making that goes into choosing your neutral-game gearset... only more specialized.

Also, complete lack of flavor is a legitimate complaint. Here I am trading blows this monster, building up Tactical Points, getting ready to unleash my weaponskill, and BAM I'M WEARING ALL DIFFERENT ARMOR FOR A SPLIT SECOND! HIYAAA~, ok I'm already changed back into my normal armor now that that's over.

Here I am using my mastery of martial arts to do battle with Rubicante, the Fiend of Fire. Watch my prowess as I execute my Limit Break! We are victorious! Now hold on for a moment while I put on my robe and wizard hat, as I am also one of the most powerful mages in the realm.

The aesthetic argument against gear swapping is not very compelling in a game where you can change your class at will.

[miokomioko]

Here I am using my mastery of martial arts to do battle with Rubicante, the Fiend of Fire. Watch my prowess as I execute my Limit Break! We are victorious! Now hold on for a moment while I put on my robe and wizard hat, as I am also one of the most powerful mages in the realm.

The aesthetic argument against gear swapping is not very compelling in a game where you can change your class at will.

I saw this coming a mile away but I trusted that you wouldn't be obtuse enough to compare switching equipment not only mid-battle but mid-action just to stack a certain attribute for a split fucking second with changing your class/job outside of battle.

[Spider-Dan]

Lol for any reason we will have to carry around "multiple sets" of gear for 1 class/job, I'm not even going to bother with the game.

Carrying around 4 sets of gear for 4 different jobs at the same time because you can change jobs on the fly? Sure, I'm down, just increase my inventory.

HOWEVER

Carrying around multiple sets of gear for the same job, even if that gear doesn't even count towards my inventory (which is already part of ARR's gear system)? SIR, I SAY THEE NAY.

[Spider-Dan]

I saw this coming a mile away but I trusted that you wouldn't be obtuse enough to compare switching equipment not only mid-battle but mid-action just to stack a certain attribute for a split fucking second with changing your class/job outside of battle.

You are talking about the incongruity of instantly changing your gear, correct?

Let's set aside the whole "casting giant fire spells that friendly characters stand in the middle of without being hurt" logic landmine. Why wouldn't any player of a single-class RPG object to the lost flavor from cross-classing?

How can I possibly be both an elite Blue Mage of Aht Urghan and a legendary Corsair of the Seagull Phratrie, when these groups are mortal enemies?

The flavor objection is ridiculous.

[Elcura]

Yes, that's the advantage of lateral gear progression. You get a lot more equipment and you have to do a lot more micro-managing to get the best out of it. Let's look at it properly.

You gear swap and what happens? You suddenly change appearance in the middle of battle? Do you blink out? Do you need to have the gear on at the moment of casting the spell/using the ability? What about if combos have different properties? Would you gear switch for all of those? How would you activate these gear switches? Having dozens of macros for 7 jobs, later on more? Do you have macros for the best abilities, all abilities, all spells or all weapon skills? What about jobs like PLD that can cure, tank, and deal a little damage? Would you have gear and macros for everything or just certain things?

Let's not forget, what happens to battle pace? Is battle more fun because you have (or need, or feel you need otherwise you're just a gimp) to switch gear for everything? Is battle more fluid, faster and less hassle? Can you adapt to situations better or worse? Do you change gear because a boss is doing a magic attack or physical attack? Change gear because you need more evasion or are you changing gear to be fully prepared for the first battle of many?

All these issues can be addressed, dealt with and be made fun. But in doing so what players are you catering to? Gear swaps are for the 1%'ers to enjoy and love, not the general population. I could be wrong (and most likely am), but I would imagine that most people don't want to put up with more than is necessary to be effective and have fun. Gear swapping for every little thing just isn't fun, and designing a game around lateral gear progression gives you a bunch of people who grudgingly go into an event for minimal reward when other jobs could be getting much better stuff, rather than getting people together to progress at the same rate. Sure that could eventually leave people out in the long run, but then foresight tells me if you have rewards for people repeating the content for others (hey, who mentioned token systems, general tokens work, you get more if you help someone in need etc) then everyone gets what they need.

If I have to choose between making gear obsolete every now and again or having sidegrades to keep more gear viable for longer, I'll choose to make shit obsolete because people need to progress, bosses need to get harder and there needs to be a better sense of progression. Let lateral gear progression be for other roles or for serving other functions that aren't originally intended for the class, not for making you 1-5% better at casting or using this spell/ability.

[Denmork]

I'm in the minority that actually loved swapping gear in XI. I felt it added a reason to keep coming back to content and helped keep solid goals for character growth. I'm not saying it was a perfect system it defiantly had some flaws, inventory and macro lines being a huge part of that. With a new system in place those aspects could be easily fix to make it work much more fluid then XI could hope to. With that said I'd rather not have gear swapping at all a half assed system like what XIV has now, either let us swap freely or block all swaps once someone in the group has enmity.